New work making super strong carbon fibers

https://phys.org/news/2024-06-strategy-carbon-nanotube-fibers-higher.html

I wonder if this new technology could produce fibers strong enough to make space elevators a reality.

I guess you can't compare gigapascals to stretch strength because GPs is a compression strength, so it won't directly compare to pull strength.

@sonhouse


Indeed if you would make Loooong fibres (a few thenthousand kilometres (you need to wind them, so not a single way up ).

And Pa is Newten per square meter, so it is a measure tensile strength.

@Ponderable
Then the question is how strong does a strand have to be to withstand a cord whatever, I know it is a lot more than geostationary, it has to go some 30 thousand Km PAST geo orbit for stability issues.
But assuming you could make cables that long I guess it would boil down to how many individual threads would it take in a bundle and then you would have to know the mass so you could get that stuff into space.
Sounds like a huge project even if we can solve the strength issue.

@sonhouse said
@Ponderable
Then the question is how strong does a strand have to be to withstand a cord whatever, I know it is a lot more than geostationary, it has to go some 30 thousand Km PAST geo orbit for stability issues.
But assuming you could make cables that long I guess it would boil down to how many individual threads would it take in a bundle and then you would have to know t ...[text shortened]... ould get that stuff into space.
Sounds like a huge project even if we can solve the strength issue.

@Ponderable
One fourth of what is needed. Too bad. I wonder if there is that much improvement to be had in carbon fiber?